The Annual Football Challenge, or the ‘festival of football’ was held on Friday 21 July at Ian McLennan Park. The event showcases the immense footballing talent between the two Colleges. The program consists of games between the U13, U14, U15 and Open teams, and the College with the most points at the end of the day is named champion. This year, Edmund Rice was victorious with 3 wins to 1, successfully defending their 2022’ championship. Congratulations to all players and coaches for the excellent performance and spirit of play during the games. Thank you to the volunteers from Football South Coast, the referees and the parent supporters who made the game such a positive experience. Please see below match reports:

Under 13s Holy Spirit College Challenge Match Report:

Squad List: Rocco Favretti, Orlando Beer, Alexexander Bradshaw-Wett, Fabian Gaudiosi, Lewis Andrews, Nicholas Perotti, Alexander Popovski, Cash Sanders, Preston Apps, William Edwards, Jude Kiley, Darius Hamod, Jeng Croghan, Julian Giorgio. Absent: Ethan Dzeparoski, Aiden Rayner, Stefen Anagnostopolous.

The Edmund Rice College U13s team arrived at the ground full of excitement and optimism, eager to start well and kick off the day with an ERC victory. The first half saw Holy Spirit come out of the blocks firing, with numerous attacking raids. Thankfully Rocco Favretti pulled off numerous saves between the sticks, keeping ERC U13 in the game. Holy Spirit went into the break 1-0 up scoring a fantastic goal just before halftime.

Football is a game of two halves, and with that the U13s put on a much better display in the second. With long spells of possession and attacking football, it was only a matter of time before the U13s would break down the Holy Spirit defence. After creating numerous opportunities, the U13s were clinical in the final third, scoring 4 goals in a dominant display. Two goals to William Edwards, capped off his fantastic game, earning himself the MOTM award. ERC 13s came out on top 4-2. I look forward to seeing all the boys representing the College in their future footballing endeavours. Mr Crapis

Under 14s Holy Spirit College Challenge Match Report

Squad List: Lucas Pucillo, Leo Halios-Lewis, Christian Ugonotti, Xavier Godbee, Jarrah Longbottom, AJ Duffin, Samuel Jovanovski, Ayden Celebi, Luke Green, Isaac Papakosmas, Samuel Ugonotti, Mitch Lynam, Jasper Harrison, Francisco Martin, Archibald Lambert.

The Edmund Rice College Under 14s squad arrived on the day full of confidence and high expectations for themselves on what is always a fantastic day at the annual Holy Spirit College Football Challenge. However, the beauty of Football, that being its unpredictability, was on full display for the Under 14s.

The Holy Spirit squad were by far the better team on the day, and were clinical in areas of the field that our Edmund Rice Under 14s struggled to take control over. Every ball that Holy Spirit delivered into the 18 yard box found its way into the back of the net, whereas Edmund Rice Under 14s couldn’t capitalise on any attacking situations.

The 6-0 defeat was a tough loss to accept, however it is also an experience for the Under 14s to learn from and improve before entering into the Bill Turner U15s Competition in 2024. Mr Jones

Under 15s Holy Spirit College Challenge Match Report

Squad List: Lucas Tancevski, Gabriel Corvalan, Luca Spaseski, Gabriele Senise, Lachlan Taylor, Conor Mathie, Geordie Dimitroulis, Andre Dzeparoski, Haider Raad, James Benedetti, Dylan Rodrigues, Mohammed Raad, Kiran Dhami, Max Dimovski, Joshua Hailstone, Sebastian Sekuloski

On the 21st of July the Annual Holy Spirit College Challenge took place at Ian McLennan Park Kembla Grange. The Edmund Rice Under 15’s were ready to bounce back after a shock upset to Illawarra Sports in the Regional Final of the Bill Turner Competition 2-1.

With the Under 14’s loss the pressure shifted to the 15’s in order to gather points for the title. The game was played with immense intensity from both teams with a final score of 2-0 to Edmund Rice College. This was a great way to send this team off for 2023 on a high and we look forward to seeing this young group of boys next year and beyond. Mr Belsito

Opens Holy Spirit College Challenge Match Report

Squad list: Damien Delovski, Max Cunial, Sebastian Tomasiello, Zak Markosvki, Alessandro Calmasini, Brodie Masters, Roman Kalmanidis, Jack Dimovski, Lachlan Flood, Payton Skurtevski, Noah Crapis, Levi Martins, Nicholas Shalala, William Milinkovic, Yoan Ciugureanu.

Last Friday the Edmund Rice College Opens Football team defeated Holy Spirit College 3-1. In a rematch of a game earlier in the year (where ERC won 8-1), ERC found the opposition more challenging. The deadlock was finally broken mid-way through the first half after some excellent work down the left hand side, resulting in a simple finish for Noah Crapis. Man of the match Nicholas Shalala doubled the lead shortly afterwards with an excellent finish inside the penalty box.

Holy Spirit College played like a different team in the second half, contesting for the ball and putting in challenging tackles, however Lachlan Flood finished a good move to make the scoreline 3-0 and put the game beyond doubt despite a late consolation goal for Holy Spirit. In addition to the goals scored, Damien Delovski made some great saves in goal and captain Sebastian Tomasiello, as always, put in a dependable display at the back. Mr Tyler

Mr Timpano
Sports Coordinator